Capotasto



' April 7, 1970 A. H. WOWRIES cAPoTAsTo Fil e'd March 19, 1968 INVENn RAugust k/OWF'I'OS M": Abme' United States Patent 3,504,589 CAPOTASTOAugust H. Wowries, 162 Oskar-Holfmann-Strasse, 463 Bochum, Germany FiledMar. 19, 1968, Ser. No. 714,185 Claims priority, application Germany,June 20, 1967, W 44,207 Int. Cl. Gd 3/04 U.S. Cl. 84-318 4 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A capotasto for musical string instrumentsthat have a finger board, of the type of a guitar, has an inelastic,flexible holding strap for connection to the neck of the instrument.This strap can be selectively tensioned for fixing the capotasto in adesired position on the neck and can be released for moving thecapotasto to the desired position on the neck. The capotasto includesblocklike means for doubling a manually applied force for tensioning theholding stgap.

The present invention relates to an improved capotasto for musicalstring instruments that have a finger board on a neck, like guitars andsimilar instruments. The capotasto comprises a crossbeam that pressesagainst the strings and is adjustable as to its position on the fingerboard. This crossbeam is easily releasably arranged on the neck of theinstrument whereby the entire set of strings can be tuned higher atonce. Conventional capotastos comprise a bracket that is arrangedlaterally swingable on an adapted to be hooked to, the crossbeam; thisbracket can be braced by means of a screw arrangement against the neckof the musical instrument. It is also known to construct the capotastoas a hollow body forming a housing which is easily releasably connectedto the neck of the guitar by a traction strap embracing the neck of theguitar.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedcapotasto which can be easily moved along the entire length of thefinger board.

'It is another object of the invention to provide for changing of thetension force of a traction strap embracing the neck of the instrumentaccording to the desired pressure on the strings.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a traction strapembracing the neck of the guitar which strap is inelastic and has oneend connected to a tension device arranged to about double a forceapplied to thedevice for acting as tension force on the traction strap.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth inpart in the following specification and in part will be obvioustherefrom without being specifically re ferred to, the same beingrealized and attained as pointed out in the claims hereof.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which the one viewschematically illustrates a cross section of the neck of a guitarequipped with a capotasto according to the invention.

Referring more particularly to the one figure of the drawing, numeral 1designates a traction strap that surrounds-and embraces the neck 2 of aninstrument of the type referred to, for instance a guitar. The ends ofthe traction strap 1 are connected to a crossbeam 16 that is formed as ahollow body and includes a housing 3 that has an end to which thetraction strap 1 embracing the neck 2 of the guitar is easily detachablyconnected.

The traction strap 1 is not elastic and has one end connected to aresiliently acting tension device 17. This device 17 is so arranged asto apply a traction force to the traction strap 1 which is about twiceas large as a force applied to the device.

The tension device 17 according to the invention c0m prises a slide 5that is adapted for manipulation by the musician for pushing the slide 5into and out of the housing 3. The slide 5 has a protuberance 6 to whichone end of an elastic strip 7 is connected. To this protuberance 6 thereis also connected one end of a flexible strip 8 the second end 9 ofwhich is connected to the housing 3. The strip 8 like the traction strap1, is inelastic. It may be a wire. The strip 8 is looped about andslidable on a connecting element 4 that is carried at one end of thetraction strap 1.

The second end 10 of the elastic strip 7 is connected to an anchoringelement 11 that is rigidly secured to the housing 3 on the insidethereof.

The tension device 17 comprising the elements 4 to 11 acts as a singleblock. The connecting element 4 corresponds to a pulley around which thestrip 8 extends. One end of the strip 8 is connected to the protuberance6 of the slide 5 which is subject to the action of the e astic strip 7.As the elastic strip 7 has an end 10 rigidly connected to the crossbeam16, the traction force effected by the strip 7 acts on both ends of thestrip 8 and exerts about a double traction force on the loose end of thestrap 1.

The element 11, that is connected to the crossbeam 16 and holds the end10 of the elastic strip 7, is provided with a guide slot 12 wherein theend 13 of the strap 1 is slidably arranged. This permits the end 13 tomove in the slot 12 when the capotasto is moved along the neck 2 whosewidth varies. With this arrangement the end 13 of the strap 1 is pulledperpendicular to the surface 14 of the crossbeam 16 facing the guitarneck 2.

The capotasto according to the invention can be easily moved along theentire length of the neck 2, of the guitar. It suffices to push theslide 5 by hand into the housing 3 whereby the elastic strip 7 istensioned and the tensioning force acting on the strap 1 is released.When the capotasto is moved along the neck 2 the end 13 of the strap 1moves in the slot 12 of the anchoring element 11 according to thechanging width of the guitar neck 2. In this way the capotasto can bemoved along the strings 15 up to the highest frets. Only a littletension force of the elastic strip 7 is sufficient to depress thestrings for higher tensioning since this force is about doubled fortensioning the strap 1 by, the device 17 according to the invention.

It has been found advantageous to provide the surface 14 of thecapotasto, which faces the guitar neck 2, with inclined portions 14a and14b corresponding to the dif ferent diameters of the strings 15. Thiseffects simultaneous depression of the strings having differentdiameters with such force as to permit exact adjustment of the stringtraction and tuning of the strings.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to theexact details of construction shown and described, for obviousmodifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tobe secured by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. A capotasto, for use in connection with a string instrument with aneck including a finger board and strings therealong, said capotastocomprising a hollow crossbeam having a surface facing said strings, aninelastic strap connected to said crossbeam and surrounding andembracing said neck of the instrument and having a first end releasablyconnected to said crossbeam, a resiliently acting and manuallyreleasable tension device operatively connected to said crossbeam and tothe second end of said strap, said tension device including resilientmeans and block means for substantially doubling the resilient forceapplied to said strap by said resilient means, for securing saidcapotasto to said neck and, respectively, affording movement of saidcapotasto along said neck upon manual release of said force.

2. A capotasto, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tension devicecomprises a slide movable into and out of said crossbeam, said resilientmeans including an elastic strip having one end connected to saidcrossbeam and having a second end connected to said slide for urgingsaid slide to move in a direction out of said crossbeam, said blockmeans including an inelastic flexible strip having one end connected tosaid slide and having a second end connected to said crossbeam and beingbetween its ends in driving connection with the other end of saidinelastic strap.

3. A capotasto, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said crossbeam includesan anchoring element having a guide slot, said first end of said strapbeing slidable in said guide slot.

4. A capotasto, as claimed in claim 1, said surface having at least oneinclined portion, the inclination cor responding substantially todifference in diameters of adjoining strings.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 480,429 8/ 1892 Iohnsen 843 1 83,185,012 5/1965 Dunlop 84-318 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner J.F. GONZALES, Assistant Examiner

